THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVEN - READING 1
[p. 46] THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVEN — READING 1
The thought of heaven is prominent in Luke. The time of the Lord’s receiving up is mentioned in chapter 9 of this gospel, and in the last chapter He goes up speedily, no mention being made of His forty days of sojourn after He arose, as if the position in heaven was urgent, that it should be reached. The word ‘suddenly’ is used in chapter 2 and also chapter 24:4, “two men suddenly stood by them in shining raiment”. With this thought in mind we might get help, for the time of our ascending is drawing near, so that we should be ready for it.
Malachi is urgent, too, in the way he presents the Lord as arising with healing in His wings (chapter 4:2); there is a further suggestion of readiness in verses 5 and 6, “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”. Elijah’s ministry takes family relations into account. In our time, not only are the children out of order, but the parents, too. So there seems to be a correspondence there and a link with Luke; Elijah being mentioned in chapter 1.
A great heavenly personage comes in, Gabriel who has to do with Zacharias and Elizabeth, and then Mary; then the verses read bring in heaven in volume. The heavenly seed takes precedence in the earth, although full provision is made for the earth. “On the earth peace, good pleasure in men”; then in chapter 19:38 it is “peace in heaven”, earth is left where it was because of what the Lord found there,
[p. 47] and the heavenly thing is introduced in what we have now in the assembly. Gabriel is a priestly angel and points to great times, heavenly times in view, having great interest in the saints, to do the best for us.
The book of Acts is to stress faith; the disciples were gazing on heaven literally, it was a question of sight with them, they had seen the Lord going up; but a cloud receives Him. The literal stops for the moment — it is faith henceforth; that is, the dispensation of faith was then inaugurated. Of course, the Lord while He was here stressed faith, but the era had not been properly inaugurated until He was out of sight. Thomas would have the natural convinced; the Lord convinces the natural, but said, “Blessed they who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29). Blessing is attached to it.
The ‘fear nots’ in Luke make an interesting subject. There are occasions of fear, but there are occasions of not fearing, and this is one — Luke 2:10. Heaven is so favourable; the shepherds represent people who are doing their duty, they are occupied with livestock, with what is living; so that heaven comes to them with these words, “And the angel said to them, Fear not, for, behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord”. These men are greatly honoured; they receive a direct announcement of the gospel. In this whole section down to verse 20 they are doing their part, which is in keeping with Luke — “praising God”. There was united action, there was one flock. “Abiding without” suggests unselfishness. These occasions are evidences of sacrifice, because obstacles arise to hinder these meetings; the enemy disagrees with them because they are helping the saints. With gasoline and food restrictions the tendency is to give up coming together, but faith wants to go on. God is with us if we want [p. 48] to go on. Difficulties are there, but we pray about the difficulties. “I am with you” says the Lord in Haggai 1:13. Satan threatens and does get victories, but they are due to our negligence. The point is to go on, suffer and go on, because the enemy will stop us if he can, and if he does we say the Lord has ordered it — but the Lord may say, You are not praying.
“The shepherds said to one another, Let us make our way then now as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us”. They want to see, they are progressive, and Mary comes in, too, as progressive, so that we have a repository of the truth in this section. All fear being banished from their hearts, you can see they are made praisers — praisers of God; glorifying and praising God, just as in the end of the gospel it says the disciples were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. That is the line in Luke.
Glory is the effulgence of something — look at Hebrews 1. It is said of the Lord that He is the effulgence; that is, the glory of Deity ... and the expression of His substance. Effulgence (look at note) is that which fully presents the glory which is in something else. ‘Expression’ is akin to it but not quite the same, it goes deeper because it refers to this sub-stratum of Deity — Christ expressed that. Effulgence of glory — it was a question of the glory of Deity in a vessel. The glory is in something else; it is great enough to shine in Him. It is not military glory, or creational glory; it has something to do with redemption, in the servant, the Christ, the Lord.
The babe wrapped in swaddling clothes is a sign, it is very touching, it is God’s way. He begins small but the greatness is there, it is hidden. Swaddling clothes are the right kind of clothing, and He is in a manger, which is not what He should have had, but it is God’s way to His beginning and it is no accident.
[p. 49] There was no room in the inn, it does not seem as though there was antipathy, but God comes in and accepts things as they are. His life was not jeopardised by the manger. When He is baptised He will have other clothes on, when He comes out of the water He will have different clothes on, everything is suitable. Everything is in perfect order in Luke. He came in in a manger, but presently He will come in as a warrior.
You begin to be an attendant; there were eye witnesses and attendants on the Word. You say, I would like to do something for that Babe. I would like to give Him the best room in my house. The shepherds did not seem to do anything, they saw the Babe and praised God, but as light comes into our souls we want to look after that Person as much as we can. The shepherds did not handle the Babe, the proper handler at the time was the mother. The greatest priest that ever was could not do better than Mary at that time; it was a question of what was suitable.
It says, “Lo, an angel of the Lord was there by them” (the shepherds), but in verse 13 it is, “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host”. The angel is the forerunner, the shepherds look on and are moved; now the testimony is moving and there is the multitude with the angel. It is to support what is going on. The word ‘host’ is remarkable, it shows interest and is a great testimony, they are declaring the mind of heaven in volume. The shepherds came into this great matter and became priests of God, and we want to be in that.
When this great scene is over the shepherds moved to Bethlehem. “And it came to pass, as the angels departed from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, Let us make our way then now as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us”.
[p. 50] The great scene that had been displayed before their eyes would have been just historical if they had not moved, but as they move they are in line with the testimony, the concrete thing is not in the angels, but the Babe. “They came with haste”, notice, “and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe” — the parents and then the Babe. (In Matthew the magi found the boy Jesus with his mother.) “And having seen it they made known about the country the thing which had been said to them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things said to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things in her mind, pondering them in her heart”. That is the good deposit, somebody is going to keep the treasure, it is treasured in the heart of love. And then “the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all things which they had heard and seen, as it had been said to them”. They returned to their local position; things would be better where they came from. Luke would say, there must be results and these results are to continue. The great scene that came before the vision of the shepherds is to impress them; we must follow these men out, we go on with the heavenly. We are being formed for heavenly part in the glory. Luke is preparing us for Paul’s assembly. We are being made heavenly in Luke at the very outset.